The purpose of this paper is to shed insights into the current inconsistencies of the control-innovation relationship. We draw on the dynamic capabilities literature to hypothesize that diagnostic and interactive control uses are indirectly related to innovativeness through their influence on the perceived formalization of coordination routines. That is, diagnostic and interactive control uses provide an input for an effective coordination process; the information provided allows for the coordination of activities to flourish. Further, we draw on contingency literature to hypothesize that the controls' direct effect on innovativeness depends on the degree of technological turbulence. Using data from a survey of 695 RD it includes a previously un-researched mediating variable (coordination routines), a moderator (technological turbulence), and two types of innovativeness (rate and newness). Second, the study demonstrates why and when diagnostic use is beneficial for innovativeness

Evidence for the relationship between management control practices and innovation is somewhat mixed, notably because of the insufficient attention devoted to the type of information management control practices provide. This study examines to what extent the interdependence of management control practices providing a mix of information for decision-making supports or impedes product innovation. We investigate whether the diversity of nonfinancial performance indicators and the functionality of cost information specifically and jointly contribute to product innovation. We also investigate whether environmental unpredictability moderates those effects. Survey data collected from a large sample of manufacturing firms show the specific effect of these management control practices on product innovation. More importantly, the functionality of cost information and diversity of nonfinancial performance measures are complements (substitutes) under high (low) levels of environmental unpredictability, and thus contribute to (impede) product innovation

This study explores the decision-facilitating role of performance measurement systems (PMSs) in firms attempting to translate competence ambidexterity (i.e., the simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation) into innovation ambidexterity outcomes (i.e., the achievement of both radical and incremental innovations). Drawing on paradox and organisational conflict literature, this study emphasises the role of cognitive conflict, generated by PMSs, in shaping the relationships between competence ambidexterity and innovation ambidexterity. Based on survey data from a sample of 90 Irish firms, our findings indicate that competence ambidexterity is associated with (a) the choice to have a balanced set of performance measures, and (b) the use of PMSs for frequent and intensive debate between top managers. Furthermore, the study reveals that these choices are interdependent, as they function as complements in generating cognitive conflict, which in turn drives the realisation of innovation ambidexterity outcomes. The results also show that cognitive conflict is not directly associated with the development of competence ambidexterity, but is instead generated through the conjoint action of a balanced PMS design and the use of PMSs for intensive debate. Overall, this study demonstrates the interdependent nature of choices concerning the design and use of PMSs, and the significant role of PMSs as generators of cognitive conflict in firms attempting to achieve ambidexterity

The office has become a large scale organisational phenomenon accommodating large numbers of organisational employees most often housed in open plan and Activity Based Working settings that arguably resemble the new factory. This study examines contemporary Big 4 accounting firm office design innovations and their representation with a view to eliciting their claimed rationales, reflections of historical office design and management thinking, and apparent strategic agendas with respect to office efficiency, client relations and cost control involved in their offering of professional services. In doing so, it also explores the implications that public practice firms' office design may have for auditor independence and audit quality. Informed by Goffman's theories of impression management, the study employs historical and website analysis, finding a predominant firm focus on office efficiency and client relations with an undercurrent of cost reduction and revenue enhancement aspirations. While represented as innovative current office design and work pattern developments, public practice accounting firm office innovations and intentions are found to significantly reflect historical office design and management thinking, with dramaturgical circumspection of floor designs and props oriented towards creating front stage performances predesigned for clients' impression management. Where backstage redesign and frame breaking does not produce desired employee performance changes, some signs of retreating to more traditional floor redesign and territorial marker usage are evident. The study also signals the potential for innovative accounting firm office designs to carry some significant impacts upon audit independence and audit quality

A Performance Management System (PMS) can be conceived as either a package or a system, with the latter generally being seen as preferable to the former. This paper tries to go beyond this dualism by adopting an approach which understands the integration of the mechanisms within an overall PMS as being a continuum that ranges from a complete lack of integration to a totally integrated system. Loose coupling theory is used to investigate the type of relationships occurring in a PMS, with no and tight coupling being the extreme ends of a spectrum, with loose coupling representing a range of intermediate solutions providing both a desired level of coordination and also a degree of flexibility for local control needs. To ascertain whether one type of PMS coupling delivers superior performance, in terms of both organizational effectiveness and process innovation, this paper conceptually develops a PMS coupling index and validates this using a sample of 140 managers operating in a variety of sectors. The empirical findings show that the coupling approach demonstrates the effect of different PMS coupling states on both outcomes. Despite differing results from prior studies, intermediate levels of coupling appear to give the best outcomes for both effectiveness and innovation. Although further empirical work is necessary, this study contributes to enriching both the PMS design and the innovation management literature. Practitioners can also benefit from this research by using it to help design or redesign the relationships in a PMS in order to effectively match local and overall control needs